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Hope runs out for 8 trapped in Honduras gold mine

The Associated Press

Updated:
07/06/2014 10:00:13 AM EDT

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Authorities are making a last ditch effort to rescue eight men trapped in a small gold mine.

Geologist Anibal Godoy is heading the rescue and recovery operation at the old, unregulated San Juan Arriba mine. It is located in a mountainous municipality known as El Corpus, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of the capital Tegucigalpa.

Godoy said Sunday that rescue workers are unlikely to find the men alive.

Eleven workers who were in the mine were able to flee immediately after Wednesday's collapse, and three others were rescued on Friday.

About 5,000 people work in artisanal mining in the area, many turning to the mines because plagues devastated the region's grain and coffee crops.